William Hanna (1910–2001) was an American animator, director, producer, and cartoonist, whose movie and television cartoon characters entertained millions worldwide for much of the twentieth century. Hanna joined the Harman and Ising animation studio in 1930 and steadily gained skill and prominence while working on cartoons such as Captain and the Kids. In 1937, while working at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Hanna met Joseph Barbera. The two men began a collaboration that was at first best known for producing Tom and Jerry and live action films. In 1957, they co-founded Hanna-Barbera, which became the most successful television animation studio in the business, producing programs such as The Flintstones, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, The Smurfs, and Yogi Bear. In 1967, Hanna-Barbera was sold to Taft Broadcasting for $12 million, but Hanna and Barbera remained head of the company until 1991. At that time the studio was sold to Turner Broadcasting System, which in turn was merged with Time Warner, owners of Warner Bros., in 1996; Hanna and Barbera stayed on as advisors. Hanna and Barbera won seven Academy Awards and eight Emmy Awards. Their cartoons have become cultural icons, and Hanna-Barbera's shows have a global audience of over 300 million people.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hanna

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1789:

French Revolution: Parisians stormed the Bastille , freeing its inmates and taking the prison's large quantities of arms and ammunition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_the_Bastille

1791:

The Priestley Riots began, in which Joseph Priestley and other religious Dissenters were driven out of Birmingham, England. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priestley_Riots

1950:

In an early battle of the Korean War, North Korean troops began attacking the headquarters of the American 24th Infantry Division in Taejon, South Korea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Taejon

1965:

The NASA spacecraft Mariner 4 flew past Mars, collecting the first close-up pictures of another planet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_4

1969:

Political conflicts between El Salvador and Honduras erupted into the four-day Football War, so-named because it coincided with the inflamed rioting during the second CONCACAF qualifying round for the 1970 FIFA World Cup. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_War

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

libretto (n): 1. The text of a dramatic musical work, such as an opera. 2. A book containing such a text http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/libretto

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

This land is your land, this land is my land

From California to the New York Island, From the Redwood Forest, to

the Gulf stream waters,

This land was made for you and me. --Woody Guthrie http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Woody_Guthrie